Written by by Eric Worrall at wattsupwiththat.com
What a surprise – European climate zealot politicians are not practicing what they are preaching.
EU Policy. Lack of commitment threatens bloc’s climate-neutrality target
By Marta Pacheco & Robert Hodgson
Published on 03/01/2024 – 13:26•Updated 13:51With the European Commission expected to announce next month a radical new 2040 target for greenhouse gas emissions reduction, there are worrying signs that governments are struggling to meet existing commitments.
Member states are already struggling to meet the 2030 targets for energy savings, renewable energy use, and overall emissions reduction at the core of the EU’s contribution to the global effort. During the same environment ministers’ gathering in December, the Commission published a damning assessment of national climate and energy plans (NECPs) submitted to date.
With all the planned measures combined, the bloc looked set to fall short of all three targets for the end of this decade, which require roughly doubling the share of renewables such as wind and solar in the EU’s energy mix to 42.5% while cutting overall energy use by 11.7% on the way to slashing net emissions by 55% compared to 1990.
Moreover, despite an end-of-June deadline, only 21 member states had submitted draft plans by mid-November, a scenario that has significantly compromised the process of assessing their combined impact, according to the Commission. The executive’s appraisal points to shortcomings on several fronts, including EU countries’ performance on reducing national annual emissions.
Current measures would lead to a reduction of 51%, four points short of the 2030 target, the Commission found. As for renewable energy in the mix, current drafts show that EU countries are on track to reach a share of around 39% by 2030. For energy efficiency the picture is much worse: the plans submitted by mid-November imply a 5.8% reduction in energy demand, just half of the EU target.